Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Satriani & Coldplay: Dismissed

Late last year and into early this year guitar virtuoso Joe Satriani made claims that Coldplay had plagiarised his song “If I Could Fly” on their smash hit “Viva La Vida”. In retaliation to feeling his work was copied Satriani proceeded to take legal action against the mass unit shifters. "I felt like a dagger went right through my heart. It hurt so much," commented Satriani when asked about the band's song.

In response to the allegations Coldplay issued a statement reading; "If there are any similarities between our two pieces of music, they are entirely coincidental, and just as surprising to us as to him."

It has now been revealed that, despite court proceedings being kept tight lipped, the case has been dismissed.

So, it would seem that the legalities are over but the debate between fans certainly continues (watch the video below to judge yourself). It’s been a while since the situation has popped up in press. Time for my opinion. I agree with Satriani feeling that he was wronged. But cases like this are nigh on impossible to win unless the evidence is overwhelming and here it wasn’t. It’s one song, not a whole album or a large body of work. Satriani went with his gut and tackled this issue because he felt his art was disrespected, it’s admiral but was, in the end, fruitless.


No comments:

Post a Comment